EJ. World of difference between practising and playing in a tournament.

But I think we should reserve that comment for later. We can speculate all sorts of things but unless he plays and we see the outcome – win or loss, we have no way knowing if he's undercooked or not. I have a feeling he’ll be find this time. His priorities were different last year. Somehow I don’t see him losing in the 1st round but we can come back to this dialogue later.

That's my main concern because if people can afford to stay in a luxury hotel with facilities and grounds to match, then the large and very imposing Gleneagles Hotel is just a few miles away, and is situated in magnificent scenery as well as having it's own golf course. I'd hate to see Andy's hotel being priced beyond most people's pockets because I think that that could cause the venture to fail. However, Andy's a canny lad so hopefully will have taken all this into consideration.

I think the proximity of Gleneagles is part of the reason they are keeping the hotel upmarket. People on golfing holidays will want to play there, but many won't want to stay there. It's previously been a "destination" venue for people to go for a nice meal, weddings and weekends away. One of the main criticisms of the previous incarnation was that it needed a facelift, and that's what it's getting.

It's the wrong venue/location for a budget hotel, and not nearly enough rooms for that to be viable. With the management company involved (ICMI), they'll know how to keep a handle on costs, and how to pitch prices at the right level. I'm sure they've already done a lot of sums before the deal was finalised and making the announcement.

The article in the Independent was interesting, and it's good to draw attention to what Andy's peers are investing in, but it's spectacularly irrelevant that Andy's spent less on buying this hotel than Rafa is supposed to be spending to remodel a couple of properties. Andy bought a local property that was available, and presumably at the market price, not as a means to show off how rich he is. Not only that, but the purchase price is probably only the half of it.

Guys,I saw this as part of a longer article on Laura Robson (which I've posted on her thread) and thought I'd stick it down here,as I hadn't seen it mentioned much anywhere else.I knew his contract was up at the end of last year,but I didn't realise they were still renegotiating it!

"Coincidentally her mixed doubles Olympic silver medal partner Murray's deal with 19 ended at the end of the year and he has been renegotiating with them.

The Murray camp are said to be content with the public relations side of his affairs but much less so with the commercial end, which still sees him without a full quota of major endorsements despite his Olympic and US Open triumphs.

Even his watch deal with Rado - that caused such a comic kerfuffle when he won at Flushing Meadows - is believed to have been brought in by an outside party, so it is far from sure he will re-sign with Fuller on the same basis as before and again other companies are watching developments."

I am beginning to wonder why all the idiots who write all those articles realize just how great our Andy is.The people of this country are to blame they are always complaining about him. Yet again on sky sport today they were reading out emails from people with the usual drivel. He has no personality he is dour and so on what a load of ****. Will he ever gain true acceptance in UK.

I think the proximity of Gleneagles is part of the reason they are keeping the hotel upmarket. People on golfing holidays will want to play there, but many won't want to stay there. It's previously been a "destination" venue for people to go for a nice meal, weddings and weekends away. One of the main criticisms of the previous incarnation was that it needed a facelift, and that's what it's getting.

It's the wrong venue/location for a budget hotel, and not nearly enough rooms for that to be viable. With the management company involved (ICMI), they'll know how to keep a handle on costs, and how to pitch prices at the right level. I'm sure they've already done a lot of sums before the deal was finalised and making the announcement.

The article in the Independent was interesting, and it's good to draw attention to what Andy's peers are investing in, but it's spectacularly irrelevant that Andy's spent less on buying this hotel than Rafa is supposed to be spending to remodel a couple of properties. Andy bought a local property that was available, and presumably at the market price, not as a means to show off how rich he is. Not only that, but the purchase price is probably only the half of it.

Thanks for the info Sparkle. I do realise that there are people who wouldn't want to stay in a huge hotel, and you don't have to be a guest to access the facilities at Gleneagles, but I'd still like to think that it will be affordable for those with less well-lined pockets, particularly local people who used it as a venue for wedding receptions and other functions.